Adventures of the Automotive Archaeologist.
I travel around looking for Barn Finds. I'll go in farmer's fields, junkyards, barns trying to find those elusive cars in barns. Because you never know what you are going to find. The best Barn Find might be just a barn away.

Saturday, January 25, 2014

A few weeks had gone by and I made my way back to my friend with the tractor trailers. This time though he had plenty of time to open up everything he had. First thing first was his friends project 70 Barracuda sitting out front.
We moved onto the tractor trailer containers. The first one we opened up had a low miles 72 Dodge Dart 4-door in it. In the same trailer was a vintage tire change machine, it was the same machine he used when he was a young boy working at a gas station in town. He found it for sale decades later and was able to buy it!
Next one had an old 40's car, a 2-door though.
Next up was an old Ford he had lying around.
In another smaller box was a very nice and clean 1971 Dodge Charger. Not a R/T or SuperBee, but a nice clean good running car that was kept out the elements.
Then we walked back to the main row of cars. Where most of the tractor trailers had been stashed. Getting back there you walk right past the rare M-Code Darts, Satellite Sebring and a few others.
Right next to the cars sitting outside was a tractor trailer nearly full of parts and one car. That one car turned out to be another M-Code 440 Dart. This one fared in better shape being in the trailer for who knows how many years. But it was safe and sound.
Making our way down to the other side of the tractor trailers to see what treasures were there to behold.
First one was a cool Cadillac that he had put a full custom frame and air-ride suspension on. He got busy though and hadn't had a chance to finish it, so he put it away for a rainy day.
Next up was a double trailer! He had a 1971 Plymouth GTX 440 auto car, and a mid-60's Ford Falcon 2-door in front of it.
The other big trailer had again two cars, but this time it was two really cool ones. The closest one to the door was a 1972 Dodge Charger with B5 blue paint and hideaway headlights.
Behind it though was the really interesting car. It was a 1971 Dodge SuperBee. For 1971 the SuperBee was moved over from the Coronet lineup since that car no longer had a 2-door version. So the one year only Dodge Charger SuperBee was born. This one in Plum Crazy Purple with a 383 c.i. big block and a automatic on the floor!
The biggest issue was that the owner hadn't been in this trailer for years. He had no idea that a tree had broken one of the skylights on the roof, allowing water to rain down on the car for years. So it was more rusted then any of the others.
We moved onto some of the non-car related trailers full of wonderful, rare Mopar parts.
After all the walking and talking I had to take off. I thanked my new friend for showing me all the cool stuff he had lying around. He appreciated that I was enthusiastic about the cars and parts and told me I was welcome back anytime. As I headed out, I thought about what the rest of my day would entail. Little did I know that there was still one big find left for the day!

The Automotive Archaeologist

My name is Ryan Brutt and I
am The Automotive Archaeologist.
I share my Expeditions across the Mid-West looking for Automotive and
Motorcycle (and sometimes other stuff) Barn Finds, hoping it will help
inspire people. Inspire them to go out and see the world around them,
go through that junkyard or dig through a barn.

You never know what you might find hidden away. Some of my best
discoveries were made completely by accident, making a wrong turn or
going down a dead end street. Most people say that most of the good
Barn Finds are gone, I'm here to prove them wrong!

My hope is that when you read these stories about my adventures you will
take something with you and do something with it. Because you never
know what you might find out there. http://www.barnfinds.org